1) There is the need for a wider reexamination of understandings of …
2) The relationship between ministers and civil servants is crucial to the … of our democracy.
3) The division of responsibility between ministers and civil servants has become…
4) Civil service responsibilities are not simply to the government of the day; they should include responsibility…
5) Implementing the policies of the elected government is a …
6) Recent events have suggested that it is not always....
7) Ministers should be able to have confidence that … to their needs.
8) Civil servants should be confident that they have … without adverse consequences.
9) It is clear that civil servants, not ministers, are responsible for the dismissal of underperforming civil…
10) A new clarity about ministers’ … should be accompanied by clarity about the civil service’s.
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Events over the last year have shown the need for a wider reexamination of understandings of ministerial and civil service responsibility. The relationship between ministers and civil servants is crucial to the efficient working of our democracy, yet the old version of the “public service bargain” in which there was an implicit division of responsibility between ministers and civil servants has become confused. There have long been concerns about the way in which responsibility and accountability are divided in the British system. Those difficulties have become more acute.
An impartial civil service has a key constitutional function. Civil service responsibilities are not simply to the government of the day; they should include responsibility to Parliament, and to the constitution. However, implementing the policies of the elected government is a core civil service role. Recent events have suggested that it is not always as effective as it could be. We do not think there can be a neat division of responsibility between civil servants and ministers, but believe that more should be done to clarify respective responsibilities. We also believe that civil servants should account to Parliament more freely than at present.
There needs to be a new public service bargain, underpinned by a governance code.
Ministers should be able to have confidence that the civil service is responsive to their needs, and deals with poor performance properly. Civil servants should be confident that they have the right to give advice without adverse consequences, however unwelcome that advice might be, and to be judged on what they are responsible for.
Ministers should be able to have confidence that the civil service is responsive to their needs, and deals with poor performance properly. Civil servants should be confident that they have the right to give advice without adverse consequences, however unwelcome that advice might be, and to be judged on what they are responsible for.
Debate over the politicization of the civil service should be set in an international and historical context. The British system is extreme in the limits set on political direction of the administration. On the other hand, it is also a system in which, legally, civil servants act on behalf of ministers, and do not normally have legal responsibilities in their own right. Not only is ministerial influence limited by the Civil Service Commissioners, and by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, but there have also been a number of recent developments which have reduced it still further. For example, it is no longer true to say that civil servants hold office at the minister’s pleasure.
It is clear that civil servants, not ministers, are responsible for the dismissal of underperforming civil Politics and Administration: Ministers and Civil Servants. We have no wish to change this, but these developments give context to current arguments about politicization.
The nature of such arguments (for example, the inordinate attention given to the role of special advisers) can make sensible discussion of the relationship between ministers and civil servants more difficult than it need be. We consider that those in key posts should be able to command ministers’ confidence, and welcome moves to ensure that ministers are involved in their appraisal.
We also consider that the appointments systems for those key posts should recognize that ministers need to be able to work with those who are appointed, while ensuring that the civil service remains, as now, free from political patronage.
A new clarity about ministers’ legitimate expectations should be accompanied by clarity about the civil service’s constitutional position. The Government has discussed long enough a Civil Service Act; it should now introduce one.
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